Thank You God Even During Difficult Times

Romans 12:9–21 ESV

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Galatians 5:22–24 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Ephesians 4:25–32 ESV

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 5:15–21 ESV

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Philippians 4:4–9 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Colossians 3:12–17 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Thessalonians 5:12–23 ESV

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5–7 ESV

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

What do these words mean to you?

What’re your thoughts about these words we have just read? Do you believe them? Do you live them? Do they define you?

How about our world? Do these characteristics define the world we live in?

How about our church? Do we as Mt. Zion live out these virtues and characteristics? Are we a beacon of light in our community? Are we here to give, or do we show up to receive something instead? Are we consumerist Christians? Or are we commited to service?

We didn’t read the opposing descriptors, but they are flooded all over scripture as well. Today they may sound something like: hateful, discriminative, racist, divisive, hurtful, selfish. Trying to justify the unjustifiable. Arguing for the sake of arguing. Complaining just because. Being silent unless speaking benefits us.

Scripture says be slow to speak, but quick to hear (James 1:19). We are slow to speak those matters that make us uncomfortable disguising it as a Christian virtue, but very quick to speak whenever we are up in arms about something.

The truth is…even if we disagree with, find it hard, or it doesn’t benefit us, truth is truth no matter how you try to spin it. In other words, truth we don’t like or that makes us uncomfortable doesn’t make it any less true.

Last week we witness an act of hatred and murder when we saw a police officer, someone trusted and respected because of the color of his uniform, kneel mortally upon the neck of a black man. This man died while cuffed and crying out for help. The very people who vowed to help were the very people who presented the most danger. This doesn’t mean all police are evil. But I do know this act was evil. The fallout has been incredibly sad.

People trying to justify this act. People creating argument and division trying to protect the image of the whole community in blue while criticizing those who are crying out for the need for fair treatment of the whole black community. It is incredibly un-Christlike to stand by in silence, or worse, defend those workers of unrighteousness. Remember what Isaiah says,

Isaiah 5:20 ESV

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Then come the rioters. We certainly cannot understand how destruction of property can help fight against a systemic issue of brutality. However, we don’t have to understand to sympathize. Many of us have never had to feel the hurt of being hated, mistreated, and having to fear for our lives because of the color of our skin. We should honor the hurt instead of condemn the reaction. This would have been the time for silence. Sadly, though, those who were silent over the brutal death of a defenseless black man were the loudest over the issue with the “violent protests.”

If the virus hadn’t already created a trying and difficult time, we certainly see the tumultuous environment of wicked and evil morality in people from the acts of injustice in these events. Oneness seems to no longer be a priority in our culture. Oneness seems to no longer be a priority in the church. Oneness seems to no longer be a personal priority.

I believe part of the reason this is the case is because we have traded in selflessness for selfishness. We have traded in humility for self-consciousness. We have traded in sacrifice for self-preservation. And this selfish behavior leads us to be people who, with greed, are seeking more.

We have become anxious, self-consumed individuals who are more concerned about what is best for me instead of what is best for others. We have become more concerned with how many likes we get and less about how much love we can give. In the midst of our storms we cry out and complain that it is too much to handle, but we refuse the help from those around us.

Prayer has become our last resort in all situations. Our privilege has given way to entitlement. Our consumerist attitude, which gives way to the false perception that everything should benefit us, has turned us into people who become consumed with the world. We become offended if the fight is not about us, and we draw it in when it is not about us. In all trials of life we have become bitter instead of realizing the benefits. In a word, we have become a thankless people.

We have for far too long seen, witnessed, and taken part in the brokenness and hurt of the world. If we desire to bear the true marks of a Christ follower we must be silent no longer and stand up for what is right. The first step in doing this is to turn our thankless, selfish ways into a cry for thankfulness for the eternal promise of love, joy, and peace.

When we realize how thankful we should be for all we have and all that has been done for us, then maybe just maybe our reactions will be different. Maybe we will stop the arguing. Maybe we will stop trying to justify the unjustifiable. Maybe we will stop becoming so defensive. Maybe we will call evil what it is. Maybe we will acknowledge truth even when it makes us uncomfortable. Maybe we will speak up against oppression and injustice. Maybe we will be more like Christ.

But how do we give thanks in desperate times. How do we become thankful in the midst of trials, tribulations, hurts, and pain? How do we become thankful in the midst of a broken world?

Why thankful?

We give thanks because of who Christ is in us.

Ephesians 5:20 says we are to give thanks always, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says to give thanks in all circumstances. These versus complement each other. We are people who should always try to find the good from every situation.

This does not mean that there is good IN every situation, but for God’s people there will be good coming FROM every situation (Rom 8:28). Christ has given us reason to be thankful.

We sing songs like “This World is Not my Home” and “We’ll understand it better by and by.” These songs give us great comfort in knowing that no matter what temporary hurt may come to us today, it will not be there tomorrow.

We don’t always understand why hurt, brokenness, pain, and trials come. But, we know that we will understand it as we grow. And we will see what good comes from it with the passage of time. While we might not understand right now, we do know that God will bring good from it for those who love Him, and in the midst of all we go through we can be grateful to God because of this. Everything God allows in our life will be turned to good.

We have this reassurance and peace because of who Christ is and who He has made us into. With this attitude we stop the fighting, the arguing, the backbiting. We stop trying to advance ourselves and we begin trying to advance Christ. And with the breaking of our silence we speak as ambassadors of justice, freedom, & love; we speak as Jesus.

Thankfulness keeps us continually aware that we are walking in His presence, which contributes to godly living. When we desire to be in the presence of God, we will have a greater desire to live out the characteristics of God. This motivates us to look for His purpose in everything that happens. I am not sure about the sentiment that “everything happens for a reason,” but I do know that God will have a purpose for everything that happens. And showing thanks even in trying situations we will seek out His purpose and be brought into submission of His will. This serves as a great reminder of our continuing dependence upon Him, and it helps us trust Him when we don’t understand the why or how.

We rejoice and we mourn

This doesn’t seem completely like a thank filled way to react. Sure, we can understand rejoicing, but not so much the mourning. Thankfulness is certainly essential in our rejoicing; and even more so in rejoicing in the midst of suffering. And while we may not always feel joyful or thankful in these tiresome and trying times, we can take confidence in knowing that we can thank God with our lips until we can thank God with our heart. We have heard “fake it till you make it.” How about we “speak it till we mean it.” Speak you thanksgiving and your rejoicing. Praise instead of complain. Rejoice when it is time to rejoice, even in the midst of our suffering, and weep when it is time to weep.

I encourage you all to visit the HCU YouTube or Facebook page and watch the most recent installment of the Romans 12 series. Rob Spark shares thoughts on this idea of mourning with those who mourn. It is a great message of what someone calls “the holiness of lament.” There is a great holiness in learning to lament. It turns us from sorrow to joy, from thanklessness to thankfulness. Lamenting and fasting are practices than can help us with self-control. And when we learn to control the urges of the body, we can begin to learn to control the urges of the mind.

When we learn to weep, we will take one step forward in understanding the compassion of Christ. Knowing this compassion turns us into people who are thankful. Weeping out of compassion turns our sorrow over this bitter and broken world into total reliance upon God. This causes great reason for thankfulness.

And when we go through these situations of life where we are tired and hurting, and we still remain thankful it will give our testimony greater impact. Our hurts will open the door to the ability to be sympathetic and empathetic to others. Our hurts can help others overcome their hurts.

We focus more on Christ than circumstances

One of the major issues we have today is that we are more concerned about what the thoughts are of those around us (or our own opinions) than what the thoughts are of Christ. We compare ourselves to others instead of Jesus. We try to please people (or ourselves) instead of pleasing God. This takes our focus from Christ and places them on our individual circumstances.

This shift in our focus takes us far from the command to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt 6:33). And when we seek first the kingdom of self, we will displace ourselves from security to insecurity. We will be filled with anxiety and worry. With fear and hurt. This will consume us once more and we will feel the overwhelming pressure of performing instead of the thankfulness of praising. If we focus on self rather than the Savior, the pain becomes more unbearable and the peace, which surpasses all understanding, will elude us. But if we are thankful it will help us replace our own anxiety with peace!

When we constantly focus on Christ and pleasing Christ then we will look to Him no matter the storm we are in. We will not be carried away by faithlessness or selfish motives (think of Peter in Matthew 14 looking away from Christ). In these moments we can know a few things for certain: (these come from Dr. Charles Stanley)

You are not alone

He is with you

He loves you

You are eternally secure

He will walk with you through it

He will bring you through it

He will turn this into something profitable in your life

And on and on and on

Focus on Jesus gives us something to hold on to. If you don’t have Jesus then you have nothing to hold on to!

Conclusion

In the last few weeks, we have focused expressly on how we can thank God for all He has done for us and all He has given to us. We will continue to thank Him, even in the midst of such troubling times. We thank Him because of who He is and who He has made us into. We thank Him because we can take confidence in knowing that our God is weeping over the destructive nature of mankind just as we are. We thank Him for His focus on us, that Jesus died to save us. We will continue to thank Him over the next several weeks, and for the rest of our lives.

When we turn from thankless to thankful people, we will become more like the Jesus we read about in the Scriptures. We will become people who are humble, selfless, and serving. We will become people who break the silence of brokenness and hurt in this world. We will become people who fight for the oppressed, the poor, and the less fortunate. We will become people who stand up for what is right. And why? Because that is the characteristic and definition of what it means to be a Christ follower. It all begins with acknowledging our complete dependence upon the Messiah, and our immense thankfulness for the salvation that comes from Him.